


The Child of the Dark Crystal

by SahriMarie



Category: The Dark Crystal (1982), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV), Winx Club
Genre: Angst, Depression, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fantasy, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Interspecies Sex, Loss of Virginity, Love, Rape/Non-con Elements, Torture, Unethical Experimentation, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:14:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25234480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SahriMarie/pseuds/SahriMarie
Summary: The Dark Crystal X Winx Club crossoverThis is the Backgroundstory of Mara, an OC of mine. She was born from the Dark Crystal and holds the power of the Darkening.  In this story you will find out how she turned into the Villain of my group of OC Fairies." A high pitched laugh caused the emperor to flinch and rip his hand from the cage of little fingers, causing the infant to scream even louder than before."I don't know what this is but I want you to get rid of it" The Emperor shouted at the other Skeksis who were startled by his harsh tone."But Emperor, what should we do with this...thing?" SkekEkt asked with a hint of worry in her voice"I don't care" SkekSo spat and smashed his staff onto the stone floor "Drain it, maybe we can make use of its Essence, just get rid of this thing" "
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 11
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1 "Birth"

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: 
> 
> I know that the names of the Skeksis can be a bit confusing, especially when you are not familiar with the Dark Crystal Lore but they are basically made up of two parts Skek and something else: SkekEkt, SkekZol, SkekSil etc, I thing you will get the hang of it.Also the Crystal, the Heart and the Heart of Thra are all terms for the Crystal of Truth (Or the Dark Crystal in this case as it is still Darkened because of the Skeksis misuse)
> 
> If you want to see more of the Characters and my art please visit my Instagram account @fantastic_fairies
> 
> English is not my native language, if you find any mistakes, feel free to tell me. Criticism is always welcome as lomg as it is constructive.
> 
> I do not own the Dark Crystal or Winc Club and its Characters, all rights go to their rightful owners. I do however own Mara and her story aswell as the Cover art.

The Crystal glowed like it had never done before, the whole chamber was flooded with bright purple light, and painted the walls of the Chamber in the same color. It was almost blinding to the eyes of the Vulture like beings that observed the strange behavior from a safe distance. Guttural voices filled the room as the creatures screamed in Terror at the sudden outbreak that none of them had been prepared for. Was the Crystal finally demanding its tribute for the many times the Skeksis had abused it for the benefit of longevity? Or was this just a new phenomenon they had not yet come to witness? 

The Skeksis rushed through the room, shielding their eyes from the light that felt as if it could burn the eyeballs out of their skulls. They waved their skinny arms through the air in panic, accompanied by their shrill screams of terror as there was nothing they could do to stop the incident. 

Only when another of their Kin entered the chamber the room fell silent "What is the meaning of this?" The Emperors voice echoed through the room, causing the others to shudder."Emperor" SkekTek addressed his master with a slight bow and then continued " Master, we were just preparing the Ceremony of the Sun, but, its.....its....gone Crazy" the scientist said as he pointed at the object that had caused the turmoil.

Skekso stared at the Heart, his eyes burning from the light. A shudder of fear ran through his body as he watched the strange phenomenon he had no explanation for. "SkekTek" he hissed sharply at the figure beside him "You have spend more time studying the Crystal than any of us, make this stop"

The Scientist gasped in shock, it was true that he had studied the Heart of Thra thoroughly, but he had no idea what was happening to it right now, or how to stop it. "But Emperor, I don't know how, the Crystal has never done this before."

"I don't care for your excuses, do something about it or I will have the peeper beetle take your other eye as well."

This was enough to convince the Scientist to take action, he still remembered the pain when his right eye had been gouged out by the pesky little creature, and even though his bionic eye had much better vision, he did not wish to go through the experience again. He sighed in defeat and slowly approached the Heart, holding an arm up against his face to shield his eyes from the brightness.

"Be careful SkekTek" the other Skeksis shouted almost in unison as he slowly stepped closer until his figure was almost swallowed by the light. A pulsating sound emanated from within the Crystal, that hovered in the center of the room above a shaft of fire, the crackling flames licking on its surface.

He slowly stretched out his arm towards the smooth surface but stopped just a few inches before his scrawny claws could touch it, as he felt the heat that exuded from the Heart. Whatever the Crystal was doing, it used a lot of energy, causing it to drastically heat-up with every of the small shock waves that radiated from it like weak Heartbeats. He heard the murmuring of the other Skeksis behind him, but could not make out the words that spilled from their beaks, as the pulsating sounds that emitted from the Heart of Thra drowned them out. 

He did not need to hear it anyways, they were probably already discussing the most horrifying death scenarios that could occur to him if he came in contact with the Crystal. Burned alive? Cooked from the inside out? Or maybe simply turn to dust on the spot? All of these were possible outcomes and thinking about it did not help him calm his mind one bit.

Suddenly a strong wave of energy emitted from the Heart of Thra and caused the scientist to loose his footing. He screamed in shock when his body was lifted from the ground as the massive outburst of energy send him flying through the chamber. A wave of pain rushed through SkekTek's body as he crashed into a wall, the stone behind him cracking open, before he finally fell to the ground. 

The other Skeksis screamed in fear, frantically waving their four arms through the air. They ran towards SkekTek, who was still sitting on the ground, to help him back in his feet. The Scientist needed a moment to get back to reality, his head was spinning and his breathing was hectic and inconsistent. 

Only SkekSo, the Emperor, remained plastered to the spot, watching in awe as the Heart of Thra went back to its former self. The pulsating sound was gone and with it the blinding light that had threatened to burn out their eyes from their sockets mere seconds ago. Now the Chamber seemed even darker than it had been before the strange phenomenon.

Everything seemed to have gone back to normal, everything except for the shrill cries that echoed through the chamber and caused them all to stop dead in their tracks. On the colds stone floor, in front of the Crystal laid a small figure that had not been there before, screaming from the top of its lungs. The Skeksis gathered around the small being, seemingly confused by its sudden appearance. The tiny being frantically kicked its tiny legs as the high pitched-pitched noises left its toothless mouth, tears streaming down its cheeks. 

"What is this?" SkekEkt the Ornamentalist asked, covering her hears with her bony hands.

SkekSo slowly stepped towards the small being and carefully stretched out his finger towards it until he almost touched it. He was taken aback when the infant suddenly grabbed his finger, gently encasing it in its little fist. Its eyes flew open, its gaze wandering between the strange creatures that were observing it with curious glances. It stopped crying, only small moans escaped its mouth that almost sounded like weak laughs, as it stared at the emperor with it bright magenta eyes that seemed to be almost glowing in the darkness of the chamber.

Its skin was pale and had a grayish tint to it, turning darker towards its hand and feet. Purple lines that looked like gossamer threads of lightening wrapped around its fingers and toes were the skin had turned completely black. They were glowing and emitted a dark energy, an energy that the Emperor was all to familiar with. "The Darkening " he whispered to himself.

A high pitched laugh caused the emperor to flinch and rip his hand from the cage of little fingers, causing the infant to scream even louder than before.

"I don't know what this is but I want you to get rid of it" The Emperor shouted at the other Skeksis who were startled by his harsh tone. "But Emperor, what should we do with this...thing?" SkekEkt asked with a hint of worry in her voice

"I don't care" SkekSo spat and smashed his staff onto the stone floor   
"Drain it, maybe we can make use of its Essence, just get rid of this thing"

"Emperor would you wait a moment yes" a voice rose from the crowd of vultures as SkekSil the Chamberlain stepped forward "We must not haste the decision, maybe Crystal has sent child for a reason, maybe it will be angered when we drain it. The master turned around, taking in the words of the chamberlain as he could see the truth behind them. He rubbed his snout as if thinking about the situation before he addressed the Chamberlain "What do you suggest?" 

"Have you looked at child? I have seen Human child before in Crystal Forest, but this child is different from others, she holds power, cant you feel it? Maybe we can use child for our own purposes. I suggest we keep child here and Study her, maybe Skeksis can make use of her." SkekSo considered the words of the manipulative Chamberlain and eventually agreed, with the condition that SkekSil would care for the child as he still had no interest in it, he was merely afraid of the wrath that could be caused by the Crystal if they abandoned the infant.


	2. Chapter 2 "Research"

Finally after many hours of crying they had managed to put the infant to sleep in an improvised cradle made out of an old copper bathtub and as many pieces of torn and stained fabric as they could provide. It was far from perfect but it would do for the time being.   
SkekEkt fell onto a nearby chair in exhaustion, she had offered SkekSil to look after the infant as she found this to be a task the male Skeksis were incapable of, and she really did not wish to upset the Heart of Thra.   
The only other female Skeks in the Castle of the Crystal was SkekLach, and even though she had tried to calm the Child, SkekLach only ended up covering the child in the white substance that dripped from the pustules on her snout. 

It was a disgusting job to clean the small creature from the odorous substance, even though it seemed to enjoy the bath a lot. But from now on SkekLach was not allowed to come near the child, a prohibition to witch the former gladly agreed. 

The infant had fallen into a deep slumber by now, soft little snores escaping its half opened mouth, SkekEkt had to admit that the ugly little creature was kind of cute, especially in this vulnerable state of sleep. She was glad that the Emperor had agreed to let the infant live and wondered if maybe the Crystal had heard her secret yearnings that she had never openly revealed to the others. 

Meanwhile in the Library, SkekOk the Scroll Keeper searched his way through the thousands of books that were kept here, searching for an explanation for the events of that morning. He wasn't even close to Halfway through the shelves but the Library had already transformed into a battlefield of books and scrolls. Towers of neatly stacked books rose into the air, threatening to topple over and crush the Skeks sitting at a desk between them. Mountains of scrolls piled up around him like the walls of a fortress that were meant to keep him inside until he had found what he was looking for. It all came together as one organized mess that only he could make sense of.

He sighed in frustration as he placed another tome onto the pile beside him, he had found books with various theories and scientific research about the Heart of Thra, or the Crystal of Truth how it was more commonly called but none of them wrote about infants that appeared out of nowhere. His thoughts were interrupted by the creaking sound of the heavy door. 

“Hmmmmm-mmmmm” this was enough to let him know who was disturbing his research as the Chamberlain let out that mischievous sound that he always did when he addressed the other Skeksis. None of them knew why he did it, or what exactly it meant, but it sure was annoying and every time he did it, he felt the urge to choke the life out of SkekSils body. 

The intruder walked up to the desk, having a hard time to navigate through the labyrinth of reading material. “I see SkekOk is working hard yes? Has Scroll Keeper found anything useful yet?

SkekOk internally rolled his eyes at the sudden appearance of the uninvited guest, he closed the book in front of him to face SkekSil, who had arrived at his desk by now. “No, not yet, bur if there is any knowledge about the incident hidden in one of these books I will find it.” He paused for a minute and pondered if he really wanted to inaugurate the Chamberlain into his further plans. He knew very well that the mischievous and manipulative Skeks in front of him wasn't exactly trustworthy and if he stuck his nose into the other Skeksis affairs, he most probably planned his own machinations.

Then again, there was no possible way, that SkekSil knew more about the matter than he or the other of his kin did. “If there are no writings about it in the Castle, we might have to search through the Libraries of Ha’rar and the Crystal Forest.

“Ohhhh, do you think that will be wise idea?” the Chamberlain asked in an almost mocking tone that did not go unnoticed by SkekOk

“What are you trying to say? Make yourself clear, I still have a lot of work to do and have little patience for your subliminal messages.”

“Hmmmmmmmm, what Chamberlain is trying to say is, that we should keep incident a secret, if Skeksis travel to Ha’rar and search Library, Gelflings might get suspicious.”

The Skeks behind the desk rubbed the underside of his snout as he took in SkekSils words, maybe he was right. Even though most of the Gelflings still worshiped them, mistrust had been sown amongst them when that little pest called Rian had spread the rumors of their Machinations. And know that SkekVar had killed the All-Maudra, More Gelflings had dared to stood up against them. It was a Disaster, and even though most of his Kin would disagree with him, the Chamberlain was right, they had to take their next steps carefully to avoid a resistance. 

He rose from hid chair, almost knocking over a pile of the books beside him “Maybe your right, I will continue my search in this library, bit if I shouldn't find anything, I will write down a report of the incident myself. Now leave me alone, I still have a lot of work to do.”

The Chamberlain nodded in agreement “Of course, of course, just know you have made the right decision, I’m sure infant will be of use to us when time comes.” He turned around to make his leave out of the Library, a mischievous smile on his face.

SkekOk spend the rest of the week, rummaging through the bookshelves, looking through every single tome and reading every scroll. But even after he had finished the last book, none of them provided him with any information, which left the Skeks frustrated. It took him almost another week to bring the library back to its former organized state and when he was finished, he did as he had told the Chamberlain, and wrote them down himself.


	3. Chapter 3 "Hide"

Time passed quickly and the infant had grown into a child, most of the Skeksis tolerated that she now lived amongst them, some simply because they feared the wrath of the Crystal if they dared to question its will other. Others because they thought that she might be useful for them in the future as she held some secretive power inside of her that they did not quit understood yet. And then there were a few Skeksis that actually seemed to like her.  
Especially SkekEkt the Ornamentalist, who raised her, cared for the child and it almost seemed as if she had developed some kind of maternal affection for the little one. She spoiled the girl with self made gowns and jewelry and made sure that the other of her Kin treated her with respect.  
However a few of the vulture like beings still though of her as a nuisance they wished they could get rid of as soon as possible, especially the new ones that had arrived at the castle after their battle at Stone-in-the-Wood. Every time when the Ornamentalist was not around to protect her, they made sure to let the girl know exactly how they felt about her.

Most of the time she was only left with a shattered self esteem, but there were days when they had scratched and pierced her delicate skin until the blood began to pour out of the wounds. The external wounds were not severe, only scratches on the surface, it was her Heart that suffered every time when she was reminded that she was just a plague to them, an insect they wanted to squash between their bony claws. And thats when she realized that she would never be truly accepted, or even loved by them. 

When SkekEkt found out about how her little girl was tretaed by the others of her Kin, she immediately put the culprits in their place with the fury of a mother. The girl was then given a room right next to her chambers and was not allowed to wander the Castle without her to ensure her safety and well-being.

Right know she was sitting behind one of the large pillars, making herself as small as possible to hide from the approaching Skeks.  
“Hmmmmmmmmm, Mara?…..Where is Child? Mara cant hide from me forever!”  
The sound of a curtain being rapidly opened startled the little girl, causing a low gasp to escape her little lungs. She swiftly covered her mouth with her little fingers to keep another sound, that could reveal her position to the Chamberlain, from escaping. Luckily it went unnoticed by the Skeks, who was slowly loosing his temper over this little game they were playing. He was slowly taken over by frustration and annoyance, why exactly had he agreed to play Hide and Seek with this little creature?

Everyone in the palace knew to well that she had an exceptionally good talent at finding the most difficult to reach hiding spots, some that even the Skeksis didn't knew of.   
Little did he knew, that she was actually hiding in plain view, just a few sreps away from him, she could hear the rustling of his Garments, as the fabric was dragged over the floor with each of his steps, telling her exactly where the Skeks was.

She crawled back and forth through the room and each time the Skeks had found her previous hiding spot, she had already taken shelter behind another piece of furniture.  
But now that the curtains were opened, hiding proved to be much more difficult, as the room was now flooded with light, that creped into the smallest corners of the room.  
She had to be as quite as possible if she wanted to get out of her unnoticed.

“Mara where are you?” SkekSils voice echoed through the room, the annoyance in his voice being as clear as glass. She loved how easily the Chamberlain lost his patience over a simple game like this, sometimes she would just quietly leave the room, keeping the annoyed Skeks occupied for a few hours until he would storm out of the room in anger. It gave her some free time to explore the Castle without the supervision of her mother or the Chamberlain. She knew that SkekEkt would be angry if she found out about this, but she hated to feel like a prisoner in the pace that she called her home and besides playing hide and Seek with the Chamberlain and reading through the books in the Library, it was the only fun thing to do around here.  
There were no other children here that she could play with and even though SkekEkt cared for her with all her heart, she was to occupied with other things.

She quietly sneaked to the other side of the room, where a small shaft, barely big enough for her to fit in, was built in to the wall. She quietly crawled into the small space that writhed around the whole Castle and often served as her means of escape when she wanted to get out of the Prison that her room was. Or in.

She had crawled halfway back to her room, when the ground beneath her suddenly gave in and crumbled apart. A shrill scream escaped her lungs as she began to fall, beneath her the Banquet hall, where the Skeksis usually gathered to feast. She landed on the marbled stone floor with a loud thud, dust was whirled around from the falling debris and formed a thick layer of particles around her.   
A wave of pain rushed through Mara’s body as it crashed to the ground and the air was forcefully pressed out of her lungs with a sharp exhale. She heard the shocked gasps of the Skeksis around her and when the dust began to settle, and formed a thin layer of dust on her skin, she stared directly in the eyes of the Skeks that she always tried to avoid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the Cliffhanger and that it took so long to update.  
> I will try to update more frequently in the future.  
> But be assured that I will finish this story, no matter how long it takes.


	4. Chapter 4 "Wounds"

Anger was written on his face as he stared into her purple eyes, he could see the terror inside them as she looked up to him, knowing very well who stood in front of her. He felt her fear as she tried to push herself away from him, her small body crawling backwards until she ran into something hard. She looked up, another Skeks staring right into her face, his snout formed into a mischievous grin that bared his crooked teeth.

Suddenly the two Skeksis began to laugh from the top of their lungs, their dark slimy tongues dancing around as their muzzles burst open. It looked almost as if they were trying to eat her, like wild animals that had surrounded their pray. Their shrill screams echoed through the Banquet hall, and soon the other Skeksis that we’re sitting at the tables joined in, filling the room with a cacophony of laughter that rung in her ears.  
It almost felt as if her tympanum was about to explode from the wall of sounds that surrounded her, she protectively held her hands to her ears to dim the noise, which caused the Skeksis to laugh even louder.

Eventually, the laughter fell silent, the next thing she felt was the bony hand that wrapped around her wrist and yanked her of the ground. Now her tiny frame was dangling in the air, her feet frantically kicking at the creature that held her.   
His eyes again met hers “ look what we have here? A pesky little insect pays us a visit. I thought after our last meeting you would think twice before crossing our paths. But here you are, falling through the ceiling. If I had known you would be so eager to meet us again, I would have payed you a visit in your chambers”

A wave of fear rushed over her as she thought about what happened the last time she had run into the group of Skeksis in front of her. The Scars were still visible on her palish gray skin and they would forever stay as a reminder to her that she was not welcomed by all of the vultures in the Castle. 

When the girl offered him no response he tightened his grip around the tiny wrist, which made the child scream out in pain.   
“To bad no one is around to save you this time, this will be a lot of fun don’t you agree SkekUng?” he asked the Skeks in front of him.  
The General just grinned mischievously, which was all the response the slave master needed.

Suddenly a horrifying scream was forced out of her lungs as a wave of pain rushed through her back. The Generals claws pierced the flesh on her back, making the blood spill and staining her gown a crimson color. Tears formed in her eyes and left behind wet trails as they ran down her face before they fell onto the cold marbled stone floor.   
What hat she done to them that made them hate her so much, was this how her life in the Castle would look like? Did they really need a reason? Maybe they really did this out of pure enjoyment? Whatever the reason was, she would just have to cope with it, there was nothing she could do, and there was no one around who would help her. SkekEkt had left the Castle with SkekZok the Ritualmaster, and the Chamberlain was still searching for her in his Room where she had left him.  
SkekEkt had told her not to leave her room and stay at the Chamberlains side. She should have listened, now she would pay the price for her disobedience. 

She was forced back to reality when SkekNa threw her to the ground, her body landing in the pile of debris that had previously been the ceiling. She screamed again as her wounded back crashed onto the floor, causing a sharp pain to radiate through her body. 

SkekNa grabbed one of the whips that were attached to his Garments, he laughed as he lunged out, and seconds after the whip crashed onto her skin, making her shout in agony. More hits followed, each of them tearing the skin on her legs open, she frantically tried to kick at SkekNa, but the pain was to strong and her legs to weak.   
Her eyes were burning and the tears blurred her vision, her body was trembling, but this time not in fear. It was anger that slowly overcame her, anger at the two Skeksis that tortured her, anger at the Skeksis who stood nearby and watched, anger at herself for not listening to her mothers advice.

SkekNa was about to whip her again, when suddenly her hands began to glow in a dark purple light. She grabbed the end of the whip, holding it tight in her fist, a ball of dark energy shot out of her hand and collided with the Skeks, who screamed in shock as he was sent flying through the room.   
The other Skeksis gasped in shock at what their eyes just witnessed, their snouts where widely opened and their eyes fixed on the girl laying on the ground.

The Slave Master shouted in pain, blood seeped from his socket where his right eye had sat just a few seconds ago. His hand lay on the ground in front of Mara, the lifeless fist still wrapped around the whip.  
Behind her she heard a loud growl, as the General unsheathed his sword and stormed at her, the blade pointed directly at her heart.

“ENOUGH” a deep voice rang through the hall, accompanied by the sound of the doors being swung open with brutal force.   
Everyone, including the general, stopped dead in their tracks, the blade just a few inches away from piercing her Heart.  
SkekSo entered the room with his scepter in hand, he came to a halt in front of the girl, who was still laying on the ground, her body covered in her own blood. Her wounds however were gone, there was no trace of the previous torturing left on her fragile looking body. Only her exhaustion reminded her of what had happened. 

The Emperor had witnessed what she had done to SkekNa, and he knew exactly what these peculiar powers were. He had seen it before, in the Catacombs beneath the Castle and on the Battlefield in Stone-In-the-Woods, when that little Grottan Gelfling had redirected it at them. He was carrying it around with him this very moment, absorbed by a little crystal that sat inside his Scepter. The Darkening.

“Tell SkekTek to provide some Essence to SkekNa, it will heal his wounds. And in the future, I will not tolerate it if you harm her again”

SkekUng looked at him in shock “But Emperor, she is just a vermin, she is non of us, she does not belong here, she……”

“Did I make myself clear?” the Emperor shouted in fury, at the disobedient General.

SkekUng dropped his head, not in shame, but to keep himself from starting a heated argument, that could cause his inevitable death. “Yes Emperor”

“Good” SkekSo spat as he turned around to leave the room. A few minutes ago he would have agreed with the general, but after Mara’s outbreak, his plans for her had changed. She could be of great use for them in the future.


	5. Chapter 5 "Audience"

Her eyes opened, staring at the all to familiar ceiling above, she did not remember how she had gotten back to her Chambers, or why she felt so weak.   
She did not feel any pain or discomfort, just a growing exhaustion that spread through her limbs, in her head a blurry image started to form. Yellow eyes staring down at her, crooked teeth bared and dark tongues wiggling around as loud laughter filled her ears.   
Screams of Terror, SkekNa on the floor, his eyeball dangling loosely from his socket and his lifeless hand laying on the cold stone floor in front of him.  
And thats when she remembered what they had done, what she had done.

She lifted her hands to her face, looking and the blackened skin of her fingers, they where furrowed by gossamer threads of purple light that pulsated in the Rhythm of the blood shooting through her veins.   
She did not understand what she had done, or how she had done it, only that her soul was flooded with anger and fury in that very moment SkekNa drew back the whip.

The sound of the door being slammed open startled her and made her sit up in her bed. SkekEkt rushed towards her, all kinds of emotions written on her face. She had heard about what the General and the Slave master had done to Mara, and what Mara had done to the Slave Master.   
She secretly wished that SkekNa had just died so that there was one less problem for her to worry about, but seeing him in his wounded state was enough to please her satisfaction for the moment.  
But more than her hatred towards the two of her Kin, she felt anger towards the girl who had willingly disobeyed her commands.

“Mara, what were you thinking? I told you to stay in your room or near SkekSil? I have done so much for you, I raised you, gave you all those beautiful clothes and Jewelry, if it wasn't for me, the others would have already killed you by now. Is this how you thank me, by disobeying my orders?

Mara dropped her Head in shame, The Ornamentalist was right, if she had listened to her, this whole situation could have been avoided. “I’m sorry mother, I promise it wont happen again.”

“No it wont” the Skeks replied with no emotion her voice

Mara stared at her, a questioning look on her face “what do you mean”

SkekEkt sighed “I will lock this room from know on, you wont be able to leave this room unless I say so. We also locked the shaft, you wont escape your room through it any longer.”  
With nothing more to say the Skeks turned around and left the room, turning here words into action as she locked the door. 

However the Loneliness she felt didn’t last long as she was summoned to the Throne room by the Emperor. And this audience would change her life forever.

“Mara step forward” the emperor ordered, his voice deep and stern. The Girl did as she was told, the Skeksis that had gathered in the Throne room staring at her small frame as she approached SkekSo. Amongst them stood the Slave master, his right eye cover with a patch and his missing hand replaced by a silver metal hook. An evil grin rested on his face as he knew what was about to happen, and it brought great satisfaction upon him.   
The girl came to a halt in front of the Emperor, who eyed the girl from top to bottom, coming to a rest at her hands.  
And that's when SkekEkt too knew what the Emperor was up to, and she did not like it one bit ´. 

“Mara, I have summoned you to discuss a topic of utmost importance” he paused for a bit and got up from his throne, walking in circles around the girl, knowing very well that it made her nervous.  
“On the day you appeared in the Crystal Chamber, SkekSil told me that you could be of use to us in the future. And it seems that he was right, this morning, a lot of us witnessed the power that you wield, and this can be in fact useful in our fight against the Gelfling Resistance and our Quest for immortality. But we have to know more about it in order for it to be of use to us.  
SkekEkt has done use a great favor by raising you, but today you will be given into the care of SkekTek. He is allowed to do everything necessary to find more about your powers, EVERYTHING”

A gasp left her lungs as she heard the emperors words, was this supposed to be some kind of punishment?   
“No, you cant do this, she is mine, she is mine!” came the screaming response from the Ornamentalist her voice lined with anger. 

“Are you questioning my orders?” He spat at her, his voice more threatening than usual.

She hesitated for a moment, thinking about her choice of words carefully, and eventually dropped her head, knowing very well that disagreeing with SkekSo would be mercilessly punished.  
“No Emperor” she said and turned around just a second later to leave the throne room she took one last look back at the child standing in the center of the room, before she slammed the door shut behind her.

Shortly after Mara was relocated into a different chamber on the same floor as SkekTek’s Laboratory. It didn't even resemble her old chamber in the slightest, it was cold and wet, the ceiling was covered in cobwebs and the furniture was lined with a thick layer of dust. It was clear that this room hadn't been used by anyone in quite a while. 

“So, I hope you have settled in properly, I suggest we get down to business right away, please follow me” The scientist said and turned around, walking in the direction of his lab, where she would spend a lot of her time in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> three Chapters in two days, I'm on a run right now.  
> I initially planned for this to be 3 to 4 Chapters long and now I have enough ideas to fill at least 15 Chapters.  
> I really hope you like this story so far, I tried to keep the events as close to the original TDC story as possible, but i had to change a few things in order to fit my story better. Especially SkekEkts personality was changed a lot, as I don't really think she would ever really care about someone this deep.   
> I will also soon introduce a Skeks OC.


	6. Chapter 6 "Heart"

The years went by slowly, Mara had grown into a tall young woman who even out stood some of the Skeksis in size. Her dark hair had grown far down her back, and the blackness that once only covered the tips of her fingers, had grown down to her elbows, and was furrowed by the gossamer threads of purple light.   
She had spent most of the time in SkekTek*s lab were he performed all kinds of experiments on her.

In the beginning she was terrified by the needles that were inserted into her body to provide SkekTek with samples of her blood for further study. And there was indeed something strange in it, her blood seemed to be infested by the Darkening, which was the Key to her powers. It healed her wounds, and allowed her to use its power. But sadly that wasn’t the only thing that was part of the experiments.  
SkekNa regularly provided the Scientist with Podlings and other creatures that they thought were beneath them.  
SkekTek forced her to use her powers on them, which usually resulted in the poor creatures deaths. In the beginning she refused, it wasn’t in her nature to harm an innocent being, but she was left with no choice as the Scientist threatened to lock her in her chambers and starve her to death.  
She hated to do this, she hated how the beings of Thra suffered because of her, how their eyes darkened as she directed rays of dark purple light on them.  
Right now a black mist emanated from her hands and wrapped around a podling’s small body, who was trembling in fear.   
His body began to shiver frantically as the vapor entered his body through his eyes, mouth and ears, fibrous threads of dark purple light formed on his skin and his eyes darkened. His screams of Agony filled her ears and she couldn’t stop the tears from forming in her eyes.   
His body slowly began to decay, until only a pile of black dust was left, the mist dissapeared and for a moment the room was drowned in silence.

This procedure was repeated almost every day, but over time both SkekTek and Mara realized, that her powers did come with a prize. With every passing day, her powers became stronger and the amount of Darkening in her blood increased.   
But her Heart was not able to process the Darkening, it got weaker and weaker with each passing day, causing it to beat in irregular patterns and sometimes even stop beating for a short amount of time.  
The Situation was critical, she would die if SkekTek was not able to find a way to strengthen her heart and make it adapt to the changes in her body.

The Emperor would probably have his other eye if he let her die and that was something he did not wish to live through again. He was sitting in the Library, skimming through a few books that might be able to provided him with a solution, but so far, there was nothing helpfull and he was slowly starting to loose his nerves.  
It did not help one bit when the doors flew open and the Emperor stepped inside “SkekTek, have you found anything of use yet?”  
SkekSo approached his brethren sitting at the Desk where one would usually find the Scroll Keeper. The Scientist was desperately trying to form an excuse in his head, but then his eyes fell onto the scepter in SkekSo’s claws, more precisely the small Crystal that sat in it and carried the Darkness inside of it. And thats when it hit him   
“Yes, Emperor, I have found a solution” SkekTek answered, which surprised the Emperor 

“Really? And What does this solution look like?”

SkekTek put away the book he held in his hands and rose from the chair “We need to replace her heart with a Crystal.”

The preparations were done, SkekSo had instructed SkekOk and SkekTek to travel to the Crystal Forest, a former Gelfling city where Crystals of all different forms and sized grew. They brought a specimen back to the castle and now SkekTek buckled Mara to a chair, to prevent her from moving to much during the operation. It would be painful for her, there was no numbing or narcotic they could use, and to be honest, this was the last thing SkekSo cared about, he just wanted SkekTek to get it over with so the problem was out of this world.

The other Skeksis had gathered around her, they wanted to observe the operation, mostly because they were curious to see the result. But some of them merely watched to hear her screams of pain when SkekTek would cut her open and remove her Heart. It made her slightly uncomfortable as her chest was was bare and her breasts exposed to them, but SkekTek could not perform the procedure while she was dressed so she had to cope with it. 

SkekTek took the Scalpel in his hand and slowly began to cut open her chest. Mara clenched her teeth as she felt the sharp blade cutting through her delicate flesh between her breasts. Her body began to tremble and a loud scream escaped her lungs as she felt the pain that went through her chest. SkekEkt could not stand to see her suffering like this, she turned around and left the laboratory, hoping that SkekTek would be successful. But no matter how far away she walked, Mara’s screams were heard throughout the whole Castle.  
SkekTek tucked the skin to the sides, revealing the pumping organ that he was searching for. His claws cut through the Aorta and her systemic vein, separating them from her heart, which now lay loosely in his hand. Blood began puring down her body, having an unusual purple color, which made sense considering that the Darkening was running through it.  
The womans screams fell silent, her vision blurred as consciousness slowly started to fade. The last thing she saw was SkekTek with her Heart in his hands before everything turned black. 

Nothing, only emptiness surrounded her, her body was hovering through a black void, no sounds reached her ears and no scents filled her nose. She was cold, so incredibly cold, but besides that, she didn't feel anything. Was she dead? Was this how it felt to die?  
“Mara” She heard a someone calling her, but no matter where she turned, she couldn’t make out its origin. She was alone, there was no one around her.

“Mara” the voice echoed again, this time more stern, and she could swear that she had heard it somewhere before, but where?

“Mara” the voice called again, and this time it was almost deafening to her ears. Her eyes flung open and her body shoot up, she whirled her head around, trying to make out where the hell she was, only to recognized the stone surrounding her to be the walls of her room. 

In front of her sat SkekEkt, a worried expression on her face. “Finally you are awake, I thought I would never see your ugly face again. You slept for almost three weeks” Her words where harsh, but the worry in her voice was pure. Mara looked down herself, her chest was still exposed, but what shocked her even more, was the hole in her chest. Inside of it sat a purple crystal, that slowly spun around its on axis.

SkekTek had not even bothered to stitch up the hole, the skin was tucked back and held in place by small pieces of wire that where pierced through her skin. But the thing that confused her the most was that she did not feel any pain at all. Her skin had been cut open and her Heart removed from her body just a few hours ago and yet, she did not feel anything.   
SkekTek later explained to her, that this was thanks to the Crystal, it had worked out even better than the Scientist had anticipated.  
He still recommended her to refrain from using her powers and rest for a while, until the wound was completely healed. It could take quite a while for her body to adjust to the changes and therefore her wounds would only heal very slowly in the beginning. 

SkekEkt told her that a lot had happened during her little coma, the Emperor had fallen ill, and since there where almost no Gelflings left, Essence was hard to come by. They drained Podlings and other lowly creatures, but they did not share the same connection with Thra and therefore their Essence was not as powerful, only sufficing for a short amount of time.   
Now they had to hope that the Crystal would show mercy on the Emperor, for they feared what would happen if the Emperor died.


	7. Chapter 7 "Broken"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter contains Rape/non-con, if you are sensitive to this kind of content I would recommend you to skip this chapter.

He was Dead, SkekSo the Emperor had crumbled to dust on his deathbed, the whole castle was in revolt, and now Mara’s biggest fear had become true. SkekSil and SkekUng had had both legitimately challenged their claims to the throne through a Trial-by-Stone, a ceremony of the Skeksis in which both challengers had to attempt to break the ceremonial rock by striking iít with a sword. The Skeksis chopping of the biggest chunk was declared the winner. And sadly, it was SkekUng who won the Trial, which announced him the new Emperor. 

For her this meant that she was no longer safe, the Emperor hated her and saw her as a thread to his kind. If it wasn’t for SkekSo, he would have already banished her a long time ago. But now, with the old emperor gone, he could do with her as he pleased. But maybe banishing her wasn’t necessary, he had forced others into obedience before, maybe he could find a way to make her obedient to him, submissive, his.

Mara sat on her bed, even though a few weeks had passed, the wound on her chest hadn't completely healed yet, SkekTek still advised her to not use the Darkening as her body needed time to adjust to the Crystal, and using them to soon could crush the crystal in her chest and kill her.  
She obeyed for the most part, however she could not stand to stay in her moldy little room for to long, as there wasn’t anything to do for her. So most of the time she wandered through the lower halls of the Castle, to which the emperor never set a foot. 

She got up from her bed and opened the door to her room, stepping out into the cold, dark hallway.  
Again she aimlessly wandered through the halls, always hoping to find a room that she had not spotted before. She walked for what seemed to be hours before she found a small hall, that was completely shrouded in Darkness and it looked like it had not been of use to the Skeksis in many years. Crates where stacked on top of each other, linen cloths where draped over what looked to be Furniture, and a thick layer of grimy dust had settled on the floor and the objects in the room.

She grabbed one of the torches that hung on the walls in the Hallway and stepped inside of the room, even the air inside here was dusty, and she had to cough to get the particles of dirt out of her lungs.  
Suddenly she heard a rustling sound behind her, the rattling of metal against metal. She turned around and met a pair of red eyes. Before she could do anything, she was hit on the head with something heavy and lost her consciousness, her body landing on the dusty floor. 

She felt a strange sensation in her lower abdomen, something she had never felt before, it felt good but there was also pain, she had not felt pain in a long time. Especially not in her lower regions, it felt as if something was tearing apart her inside. She slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry. On top of her she saw a tall figure, its body moving in a steady rhythm, low growls leaving its beaked snout. She looked down on herself, down to were the pain came from, and that's when she was forced back to her senses.  
She tried to scream, but the Emperor covered her mouth with his claws before a sound could escape her lungs.  
His other hand was wrapped around her breast, his claws buried inside of the soft flesh, drawing blood that ran down her naked body. His pelvis moved back and forth as his manhood was buried deeply inside of her. He had wanted to do this much earlier, he had secretly wondered how her naked skin would feel beneath his claws, how it would feel to bury his length inside of her, and what her Heat tasted like. When SkekSo was still alive, he did not have the chance, one word to the former emperor would have led to his banishment. But now that he was the Emperor, he could and he would do whatever he wanted with her, whenever he wanted it.   
She squirmed beneath him, trying to free herself from his strong grip, her hands and feet were cuffed and chained to the wall, making her unable to move.   
“Please stop” he heard the muffled voice from under his claws, as tears started forming in her eyes and ran down her face, leaving behind wet trails on her face that shimmered in the light of the torches.  
He ignored her pleads, she would submit to him, sooner or later, he just needed to be patient.

His movements got faster and more aggressive, he lowered his face to her breasts, his tongue caressing her sensitive nipples. She turned her head to the side, trying to avoid looking at the Skeks who had taken advantage of her. She felt disgusted and tried to hold back the moans that wanted to escape her mouth, she would not give him that satisfaction.

Suddenly his claws grabbed her face, turning her head around to face him, hiz gaze wandered over the features of her face and came to a halt on her plumb lips. Without warning his face came crashing down and his tongue forcefully slid between her lips giving her no chance to scream. She almost choked as the muscle entered her cavity, moving inside of her, brutally playing with the muscle of her own. More tears streamed down her face as her body shivered on the cold stone floor, the sobs that wanted to escape her mouth were silenced by the forceful invasion of his tongue. 

She coughed violently, as his tongue finally left her mouth, and then she just cried, she felt helpless and alone, no one would hear her down here, no one even knew that she was here, except for the emperor, who know grabbed her legs and spread them further apart, allowing him to thrust his length deeper inside of her.  
Low growls of pleasure escaped his snout as he got closer to his completion, her cries only seemed to make him fall deeper into a state of ecstasy.

Suddenly there was a loud crash, the emperor lost his grip on her, his phallus leaving her heat. He fell unconscious, his body collapsing to the cold stone floor beside her. She hysterically tried to crawl away from him, as far as the chains allowed her to, she searched for what had caused the emperors sudden collapse and saw a tall figure slowly approaching her.


	8. Chapter 8 "Saviour"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: there are going to be some lore changes from now one to fit my story better, but i will try to say as true to the original backstory of The Dark Crystal as possible.

The shadow slowly approached the woman laying on the floor, her body trembled in shock, and she could not prevent the uncontrolled sobs from escaping her lips. She breathed heavily through her nose as the figure knelt beside her, the sound of his steady breathing reaching her ears as he bent over her. Mara closed her eyes, pressing the eyelids together tightly in fear of another assault on her exposed body. But none of it happened, instead she was surprised by a sudden feeling of relief as the shackles around her wrists and ankles where ripped open and fell to the ground with a loud rattling sound that made her wince. Now that her extremities were freed, she curled up into a ball and wrapped her arms around her upper body to cover her exposed chest.

The rustling sound of fabric reached her ears and shortly after she felt how something warm was wrapped around her body. Next thing she knew were the pair of strong arms that were wrapped around her body and lifted her into the air, carrying her out of the dark room that she never wished to set a foot in again after this day.  
Mara could not see the face of the being that carried her through the hallways of the castle, as they were drowned in darkness. Whether he was her Saviour, or just another cruel soul that wanted to take advantage of her weakened state, she couldn’t tell.  
But no matter the case, she was to weak to fight, her legs felt like Jello and her ind was still in a state of shock.

She was carried through the hallways for quite some time, none of the corridors that they crossed seemed familiar to her. She had never been this deep beneath the Castle and the further her rescuer, or whatever he was. Walked, the colder and darker it seemed to get.  
Eventually he stopped, in front of them a huge wooden double door engraved with strange symbols that she had never seen before. With a creaking sound it swung open, revealing a dimly lit room. He stepped inside and walked towards a divan chair, which was lined with fabric of a crimson color, and gently placed her down onto the seat.  
Mara immediately grabbed the blanket that was wrapped around her body and pulled it up under her chin , only her head remaining visible.  
Her gaze slowly wandered over towards the figure, that walked towards a small alcove on the other side of the room. It was lined with large wooden shelves that kept glass bottles of different shapes and sizes that where filled with strange looking liquids. Another Shelve was filled with glass jars that stored all kinds of dried herbs, plants and mushrooms.  
A stone hearth stood in between the shelves, a fire crackling inside of it, heating up the iron pot that hung above it. 

She observed him as he grabbed a few of the jars from the shelves and placed them on a small counter that stood in the center of the alcove. His claws reached inside the containers, pulling out a few of the dried ingredients before he placed them inside of a small bag of thin fabric, that he tied up with a piece of twine.  
With the help of the wooden ladle he poured some of the boiling water from the kettle inside of a small wooden cup and placed the bag of herbs inside of it. 

“Who are you?” realizing to late, that she had actually spoken the words out loud, she covered her mouth with her hands, her fingers still clinging to the blanket, pulling it over her mouth.  
Her eyes went wide with fear as he approacher her again, his long robe dragging over the floor behind him, the steaming cup of Tea sitting between his claws.

He was one of them, a Skeksis, which she could tell by the long snout protruding from his face, but he looked so much different than the others of his Kin. He was tall, taller then all of the other Skeksis in the Castle and his body wasn’t bony or lanky like theirs. He had broad shoulders and his chest was muscular as she could see through the fabric of his robes that where clinging tightly to his torso. His clothes mostly consisted of white and blue shades with golden accents, which where quite unusual colors for a Skeks.  
His face too wasn’t as bony, his facial features smoother, making him look less morose and agonizing, almost benevolent.  
A full set of grayish-silver hair decorated his head, and was tied together in a loose braid, that ran down his back.  
But it where his bright turquoise eyes that caught her attention the most, they reminded her of the waters of the silver sea or the sky on a warm summer day. He was the most beautiful Skeksis she had ever seen.

He came to a halt in front of the divan, his claws reaching out to her, which made her wince and push herself against the Sofa, trying to get away from him. “Please don’t hurt me.”  
These words made him stop, slowly pulling back his arm “I wont” he assured her, his voice deep, melodic almost, not as raspy and shrill like those from the others of his kin.  
He placed the cup of tea on a small table next to the divan, knowing very well that she carefully observed each of his steps. “You should drink this, it will help you calm your nerves.”

“Who are you?” she asked the Skeks again, who was again wandering towards the alcove. Her voice was shaky and barely above a whisper, but it was loud enough to reach his ears.

He lightly turned his head in her direction “The ones I used to call my brethren gave me the name SkekVazur, the Alchemist, but I prefer to just be called Vazur now” 

She swallowed hard before forming her next question “What are you doing with me now?”

Upon hearing the fear in her voice he turned towards her completely, his face showing no trace of evil or mischief “Nothing, I just wanted to bring you to a place where they will not find you, you are safe here, but you are free to leave, if that is your wish.”

Her gaze wandered over to the wooden door, what would happen if she left the room?  
A wave of different emotions ran through her mind, each connected to the many thoughts that did not allow her to calm down. SkekUng wouldn't stay unconscious forever. Maybe he would start searching for her, try to finish what he had started in the cold dusty chamber. Maybe he would kill her so the others would never hear of his assault on her. She wasn’t safe in the Castle anymore, not with SkekUng as the Emperor. But would she be save anywhere else? What would SkekEkt do if she would never return to her? She hadn’t seen her foster mother a lot after she had moved to the lower chambers of the Castle, but she had still visited her as often as her duties allowed her to, gifting some new gowns and Jewelry to Mara.  
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in, one of her arms came crawling out from underneath the blanket and grabbed the cup of tea that still sat on the wooden table.  
She brought it to her nose and immediately her nostrils were filled with the lovely floral scent of the concoction.  
Her lips closed around the rim of the cup, leaving a wide enough gab for her to let the liquid flood her mouth and play around with her taste buds. Valerian Root, Honeymoss and Hogweed, all these Aromas mixed together into a symphony of flavors. 

She immediately felt the soothing effect of the brew, her thoughts calmed down and her body stopped shacking.  
When she opened her eyes, Vazur stood in front of her, a folded piece of clothing in his hand “Here, you can put these on” he said and turned around, giving her some privacy while she dressed in the robes, that were way to big for her, but they would have to do for now.  
“I have never seen you in the Castle before, why are you not with the others Skeksis?”

His brows furrowed slightly “I….left them a long time ago, I do not exactly feel of them as my brethren anymore?”

She draped the robes over her body and sat down on the chair again, taking another sip of the tea “I can tell that you are not like them, there is something different about you, who are you”

“I told you already, my name Is Vazur.”

A weak smile formed on her lips “You told me your name, but that still does not tell me who you are, please, I only want to know who my Saviour is.”

A soft sigh escaped his lips before he turned around and sat on the far end of the Divan “Do you now the story about the Urskeks and the Great Division?

She nodded in response, SkekEkt had told her everything about it, The UrSkeks were beings that had been banished from their home planet and came to Thra, they sought to purify themselves to get back to their Home world through the Crystal during the second great conjunction. But instead of being sent home, each of the fallen UrSkeks were inadvertently divided into two separate beings, the Evil and violent Skeksis, and the gentle and contemplative UrRu. They were however still connected to one another, if one part of them died, the other would do so as well. 

“Good” he said and continued to explain “I was there too, during the Great division, but something went wrong, the personalities of me and my UrRu self got exchanged, UrJellak got the evil and destructive soul that was originally intended for me, while his was planted inside my body. The others living in the Castle soon realized that I was different, where they sought immortality and power, I searched for answers, answers that would allow us to return to our former selves. But they would not listen to me, their greed turned them into incorrigible beings, lead by the fear of death. And even though they keep the Crystal of truth as their slave, it is them that have become slaves to the Crystal.” 

As he continued to tell her the story she realized how few she actually new about the Skeksis, there were a lot of things she didn’t new about them and their plans for Thra. But then it did not really surprise her, as she was never allowed to leave the Castle. All that she knew about the outside world she had heard from the stories SkekEkt had told her when she had been a child but she had never seen it herself.  
They had always told her that they were trying to rule over it to bring back order and justice but their real intentions were to drain the Essence of the Gelflings to turn themselves immortal and now there were only two Gelflings left, fighting for existence. She didn't know how to feel about all these newly achieved information, it was to much to process for one day, especially after what happened earlier.  
But sadly the bad news wouldn’t stop there.

“What happened then? Why are you down here?” Mara asked.

“They first started their unethical experiments on me, trying to exchange the soul of me and my UrRu self but things didn’t go as planned so they banished me into the lower floors of the Castle to prevent me from disturbing their experiments and crossing their plans. That's when I realized that hope for them is lost, they wont turn from their plans, even if it means to banish the ones of their own kind.”

Mara sighed, her heart felt Heavy and her soul crushed “I cant imagine they are this cruel, they experimented on me as well, but it was just to save my life, I would be dead if it wasn’t for them, well some of them.”

A small chuckle escaped Vazur’s snout “Do you really think they tried to keep you alive because they care for you? They saved you so that your powers could serve them in the future, you are nothing but a tool to them, a tool that they used to hunt down the Gelflings and bring the Garthim to life, it is the Darkening that has destroyed a lot of Thra, and will still continue to do so as long as the Skeksis keep misusing the Crystal.”

Was that true, this they really use her own powers without her consent? Did SkekEkt knew about this? Had she lied to her all these years? No this couldn't be, it couldn't it just…

“Do you want to see it?”

His deep voice ripped her from her thoughts “What?”

“Do you wish to see the outside, see for yourself what the Darkening has caused?” for a moment she thought he had lost his patience with her, but he stayed calm and collected, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here he is, as I promised a few chapter before, SkekVazur is my Skek Oc. Lets find out what Mara will witness once she leaves the Castle for the first tie in her life. Did the Skeksis really lie to her? More importantly did SkekEkt lie to her? And what will she do when she finds out the truth?
> 
> Since English is not my native language there might be some mistakes here and there, if you happen to find any, feel free to tell me. Also i would really love to hear how you like this story so far. I'm not trying to fish for comments, but it motivates me to know that people are actually interested in the stuff I write. Constructive Criticism is always welcome.


	9. Chapter 9 "Sorrow"

The smell of chamomile and rosemary lingered in the room as the steam rose up from the hot water and spread the herbal scent through the air. Her body was submerged in a wooden bathtub, her torso peered out of the water, her knees pressed to her chest, supporting her arms as her face was buried in her blackened hands. The gossamer threads of purple light seemed to glow even brighter than usual, pulsating wildly as the darkening pumped through her veins.

Her body was shacking uncontrollably, almost as if it was freezing and even the hot water surrounding her couldn’t calm it down. The lump in her throat made it hard to breath, causing her lungs to beg for oxygen, the only thing escaping her mouth being hysterical sobs that she tried to keep as quite as possible. She still felt sore, her ankles and wrists were bruised from the shackles but they were nothing compared to how broken her mind felt. 

Her trembling body sunk deeper into the water, small bubbles of soap forming on the surface as she did and popped whenever she moved in the large wooden tub. Vazur had allowed her to take a bath before showing her the outside world of Thra, an offer that she thankfully accepted. But all the soap did nothing to relieve her of the dirtied feeling, no matter how hard she scrubbed on her ski, she still felt sullied, almost as if her body was covered in an impenetrable layer of mud. In her head the horrific scene of SkekUng taking advantage of her chained up body kept on replaying over and over again. His red eyes were full of desire and stared into hers like a starving monster that had finally found its prey.

Hot tears streamed down her face in rivulets and fell into the water, causing ripples to form on the surface like miniature waves that splashed against the wood like miniature waves. She violently scrubbed on her skin, working though the layers of flesh, not recognizing the damage she was causing to her own body. Layer after layer where peeled off until the dark purple blood started spilling, causing her to come back to her senses.  
A throaty gasp escaped her mouth as she stared at the damage she had done, the blood ran down her elbow and fell into the water, were it started dissolving in dark swirls that looked almost like a red cloud that was about to swallow her body.

She aggressively threw the sponge back into the hot water and wrapped herself in a towel that Vazur had laid out for her. She climbed out of the wooden tub and slowly walked over towards a small mirror on the other side of the bathroom. Water-drops fell from her body like a shower of translucent pearls and left dark spots on the floor behind her.  
Her clothes lay on a small cupboard and had been neatly folded by the Skeks who was patiently waiting in the room next to her.

The Mirror caught her attention again, her eyes slowly wandering over its surface that had gotten steamed up by the hot water. She slowly ran her hands across the surface, smearing away the mist and giving herself a clear view of her face. Bright purple eyes full of despair and fear stared back at her, they were puffed up from crying and encircled by dark rings. It was the first time in all these years that she took the time to study her features, her dark purple hair was still dripping wet and clung to her body like a second skin.  
She ran her fingers over the pale grayish skin of her face and felt the smooth surface underneath her fingertips.  
She looked so different from the Skeksis, she had no long snout or beak, her teeth were not jagged and her body was not bony. She wondered if there were others of her kind on the planet of Thra, creatures that looked like her. So far the only other beings she had come across were the Podlings that played their music to the Emperor and the Gelflings that had served as Castle Guards. But they had gotten less and less over the years until only she and the Skeksis were left. She didn't knew where they had gone, SkekEkt had always told her that there was no more need for them to Guard the Castle as the Garthim were now taking care of that part, but she always felt like there was more to the story.

A knock on the door startled her, she swirled around , knocking over a flask filled with a light shimmering liquid. It fell onto the stone floor where it shattered into pieces, the aromatic substance running over the floor in rivulets. 

“Mara is everything okay?” she heard Vazur’s voice from behind the door.

She closed her eyes and let out a long breath of alleviation “Yes, I will be out in a minute”

She quickly dried off her body and put on her clothes, the whole room filled with the lovely scent of the liquid that was spilled on the floor, it was something she could not associate with anything she had ever smelled before. Mara quickly gathered up the broken pieces of the bottle and left the bathroom. Slowly she walked over to Vazur, who was standing behind the counters in the small alcove, his back turned towards her.  
“Do you feel a little better?” he asked  
She walked behind the counters, standing back a safe distance away from the Skeks who was stirring a liquid inside the kettle.  
“Yes, I think so” She reached out the pieces of glass to him “I’m sorry, I…..accidentally broke this”  
He turned his head around to face her, his gaze wandering down to her hands and for a second she could swear he saw a hint of sadness in his eyes as he looked at the broken pieces of the bottle that still carried the captivating scent of the liquid it formerly held. But then he just nodded a gentle smile forming on his snout  
“Don’t worry about it, I still have enough left” He pointed at a barrel beside him “throw it in there before you cut yourself”

Some time later Vazur, who had finished brewing his concoction, walked over to a large Mirror that hung on the wall. He fiddled with the ornaments that where carved into the frame until the Wall started roaring with a loud sound and slid to the side, revealing a secret passage. “Are you ready?”  
Mara looked at him in wonder “For what?”  
“To see the World of Thra”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sorry it took so long to update again, but like i promised, i will finish this story, no matter how long it takes. Next chapter is already in the works.


	10. Chapter 10 "Truth"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the 10th Chapter already.  
> Please keep in mind that I changed some aspects of the TDC lore to fit my story better. If you find anything that is not actually canon, that is deliberate.  
> Constructive criticism is always welcome :)

Mara`s eyes widened as she stepped out of the Castle, goosebumps formed on her skin as she felt the cold air on her skin, that felt like tiny needles pricking on it. She flung her arms around her upper body and took in the Landscape that presented itself to her. It was different from how she had imagined it or from the drawings she had seen in the Books that were kept inside the Library of the Castle. In those tomes the land was covered in large green forests, lush meadows with a variety of colorful flowers and rivers that glistened in the sunlight like crystals.  
But what her eyes witnessed reminded her more of the sceneries from the scary stories that SkekEkt had read to her when she had been a Child.

The Sky was covered in dark clouds, allowing non of Thra’s three suns to penetrate the thick carpet and drown the land in light. Every once in a while a bright purple light illuminated the sky like a lightning stroke and painted the clouds in a lighter shade before it was gone again withing the blink of an eye.  
The area was dried out and furrowed with long narrow trenches that were filled with a glowing purple substance that she recognized all too well. Her blood began pulsating wildly almost as if it was drawn to the rivers of dark energy that crossed the earth.  
In her head she tried to imagine how this land must have looked like, it was changed beyond recognition, a dead and deserted land that allowed for no creature to live, whether it be Gelfling, Podling, or any other creature.

Vazur stopped at her side, his gentle gaze drifting off into the distance “These Lands were once covered in lush green Meadows and were crossed by crystal clear rivers that reflected the perfect blue color of the sky. After my brethren started abusing the Crystal, the Darkening started spreading over Thra, causing all forms of life around here to die. It has not reached all of Thra yet, but it will if they keep going on with their machinations.”

Mara felt a sharp pain running through the Crystal in her chest, she had hoped for Vazur to be wrong, for him to be just as devious as the other Skeksis, to find the beautiful scenery that she had seen in the books. But there was no way of denying it any longer, this was the Skeksis fault, and they had tried to hide from her. This was the reason she had never been allowed to leave the Castle or wander around the balconies and outside walkways, so she would not find out the truth and try to stop them like Vazur had.

The Skeks next to her was thinking over the choice of his next words wisely, he knew that they could be painful, and eventually break her, but she had the right to know.  
He let out a deep sigh “ But that's not the only thing that caused the Darkening to spread.” 

Mara turned to him, her face covered in a mask of confusion “What do you mean?”

He closed his eyes, letting out a heavy breath before he continued “They forced you to kill didn't they, to use your abilities on the creatures of Thra.”  
Her eyes widened in shock as she heard the words spilling from his snout, the immense feeling of guilt that spread through her body lay heavy on her chest and was almost unbearable.  
No words left her mouth, instead, she just hung her head in shame, staring at her blackened feet that where covered in gossamer threads of purple, just like her arms. Tears streamed down her face and fell onto the dusty ground, leaving behind a pattern of dark spots.

“I know this is not an enjoyable memory, but you have to listen, every time one of them died from the influence of your powers, the Darkening spread further, you fed it, strengthened it.”

She fell onto her knees, tears creeping to the surface again, she felt betrayed, the Skeksis had used her blind trust and naivety to plant their lies inside their mind and use her for their plan to become eternal and rule over Thra. She had just been a puppet that they held by the strings and played whenever they desired. It was her own fault, she should have realized it sooner, nor later than the first time, SkekTek had forced her to use her powers on the innocent Podlings.  
A gentle claw on her shoulder ripped her from these dark thoughts that now plagued her mind and she heard Vazur’s gentle and melodic voice behind her.

“There was no way you could have known, you are not to blame.”

Mara lifted her head to look at Vazur’s face, the tears leaving behind black trails on her pale skin. “How am I not to blame, how do you even know how much of this is actually my fault. You say that I caused the Darkening to spread, but how? Why?”  
She did not try to contain the anger in her voice as she almost spat those words at Vazur, who kept his perfect masquerade of calmness. He understood her anger and knew that it was not directed at him, but at herself and his brethren.  
“It is not your fault, you and your powers have been used as an Instrument by the Skeksis, an Instrument to help them defeat the Gelflings and rule over Thra. They disguised it as an act of kindness towards you, told you that the experiments they did on your powers were for your own safety and wellbeing. My Kin knew exactly what they were doing, first, they were able to fool Mother Aughra and the Gelflings and now their species is almost extinct.”

Mara sighed “But why do I have these powers? And why does the Darkening spread whenever I use them?”

Vazur walked over to a rock that sat beside the door to the secret passage that had led them outside and sat on its edge. He pointed at another rock net to him “You may want to sit down, this is going to be a long story and it is mostly based on Theories as your appearance on Thra was truly a unique event that has never happened before.”

Mara shook her head and sat down right on the dusty ground where she stood “I’m fine here, just tell me.” Her tone was cold and held a hint of bitterness, she still was not sure whether to trust Vazur or not, he had been nothing but nice to her, but then again, the Skeksis had been as well. It was still possible that he was just manipulating her, or pull her on his side and then turn his back on her when she was of no more use to him. 

He understood her hesitance and nodded gently, not wanting to push her. “Good, I already told you about the Great Division, and how the Crystal of truth was turned into what we now know as the Dark Crystal. It was caused by the Skeksis abusing the Crystal by extracting the Gelflings Essence. This caused the Darkening to spread, it poisoned the land, and infested the Minds of Thra’s Creatures, causing them to go wild and feral.  
I believe that the Darkening is alive, it has its own mind and is connected across the whole land, communicating in its own way and forcing the infested creatures to spread it further. When we got out here you felt how the Darkening inside those rivers was calling for you, am I right?”

Mara gasped, she still felt how the Darkening inside her veins felt drawn to the purple rivers as if they belonged together like the pieces of a puzzle, connected by an invisible net.  
Her reaction was enough for him to confirm his presumption “I see. like I said it takes over the minds of the creatures of Thra, causing the Darkening to spread further like a virus. But for you it is different, you have lived with the Darkening for years without it having any negative effects on you. The Darkening only appeared after you were born, I believe that the amount of Darkening in the Crystal was too much to handle, it needed an outlet, so it created you, a manifestation of the Darkening. And since that moment it was able to spread outside of the Crystal as well.”

The words spilling from his snout were too much for her to handle, she jumped off from the ground and started walking back and forth hysterically, asking a whole lot of questions that now popped up in her mind. But it were just a few, that reached his ears that he found relevant enough to answer “What does that mean? I was born from the Darkening inside the Crystal? So the Darkening is basically my creator?”

Vazur inhaled deeply, closing his eyes “No Mara, that's not how it is”

“Then tell me, please, I have lived my whole life not knowing where I came from or who I was, if you know anything please tell me” Her voice was almost begging him as the tears once again spilled from the corners of her eyes.”

His eyes shot open, his gaze now much more serious than it had been before “Mara, you are the Darkening!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :0 WHAT


	11. Chapter 11 "Comfort"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the Next Chapter.  
> Again, please keep in mind that I made some changes to the TDC lore to fit my Story, if you find anything that is not canon it is deliberate.  
> Constructive criticism is always welcome-  
> Now I hope you enjoy this Chapter.

Mara stopped dead in her tracks, her body freezing on the spot as she heard the words pouring from Vazur’s snout. They entered her ears like a growling thunder, followed by a lightning stroke as the shock of realization about their meaning hit her. She felt how her body began to tremble, the Crystal In her chest pounding faster and so loud that Vazur, who was still sitting on the rock a few meters away from her, could probably hear it. 

A thousand questions crossed her mind, all of them wanting to be asked at once “What do you mean with I am the Darkening? Wouldn't I have noticed that before? Why was my heart not able to handle it? Why..”

“MARA” Vazur’s voice echoed in her ears, the sudden harshness in his tone startled her and caused her to look at him. His face still showed no sign of Anger but there was a hint of annoyance in his eyes, or was it impatience? She couldn’t tell, but it was enough to make her stop throwing questions at him.  
He sighed, his eyes closing in the process and when he opened them again, there was no hint of his sudden change of demeanor left, he was back to his Calm and collected self.  
“Mara” he started again, this time his voice was gentle “I know you have a lot of questions, and I promise I will answer them, but you have to stay calm. I know this has been a rough day for you, a traumatic one even, but I can't help you if you do not listen to me.”

Now it was Mara’s turn to let out a deep sigh, she walked over to the rock next to Vazur and sat down “I’m sorry, this is just so much to take in.”

He nodded slightly “I know, I will answer your questions, but please, just one at a time.”

And he did, Mara asked him all the questions that were on her mind, and tried to be as patient as possible and in return, he took all the time he needed to answer them as thoroughly as he could. He told her that the Darkening only started spreading outside of the Crystal after she was born, she controlled it, spread it without even knowing. The Dark energy in her veins grew stronger over the years, but it was out of control and that was the reason why her heart had not been able to withstand it. If someone had taught her to control her powers at a younger age, she would have been able to calm the blight inside her veins and the replacement of her heart never would have been necessary. It could have learned to adjust to the changes in her body, but now she was damned to walk around with a Crystal in her chest that was always exposed as the Skeksis did not find it necessary to stitch up her chest.   
Every time she looked down on herself, she saw the hole in her chest, the skin peeled back and clamped to the side by metal rings that were now embedded into her skin. And inside sat the glowing Crystal, that now pumped the darkening through her body just like her heart once did.

“How do I learn to control it? I don’t want to be the cause of this any longer.”

He smiled gently and rested a claw on her shoulder “I think I can teach you, but it will take time, and you have to trust me. I know that after what my Kin has done to you, trust is not something that comes easy for you, especially not towards someone like me but….”

“I trust you” Mara interrupted before he could finish his sentence, it was a quick change of thought, but he had told her more about herself than the other Skeksis had since she was born. If he could not teach her how to control her powers, no one else could. She had to be faithful and hope that he was right. But there was another question that popped up in her mind as she thought back on the events of the day.

“You said that the Gelflings were almost extinct, does that mean there are still some out there the Skeksis don't know about?”

His gaze turned a little more serious and for a moment she thought she had asked too many questions again. But he eventually nodded.  
“Two of them are still wandering the lands of Thra, trying to complete the Crystal and end the reign of the Skeksis. My brothers and Sisters must stay unaware of this, or they will fail.”

Mara got up from the rock that she was sitting on “So there is still hope? Can the damage I have caused be undone?”

A gentle smile formed on his face that carried a hint of pity “ The damage will never be undone, too many have died and their lives are forever lost. But we can restore the former beauty of this world, it will be a long process, but it is not impossible.”

He reached inside his white robes and pulled out a bottle filled with a shimmering liquid. It was identical to the one she had accidentally broken back when he had startled her in the bathroom.   
He unscrewed the lid and bent down towards the ground, letting a small amount of the white substance drip onto the dusty and dry floor. First, it seemed as if nothing happened, the ground simply soaked it up until only a dark stain remained on the ground. But suddenly, the dirt slowly tore apart as tiny green veins grew out of the ground and shot into the air where they grew into a small patch of beautiful yellow flowers. 

Vazur screwed the lid back onto the bottle and showed it to Mara, who eyed it with curiosity after the effect she had just witnessed.   
“This is the Essence of a Gelfling, I was able to save a few of the bottles before my brethren could use them. Since Gelflings have the strongest connection to Thra, their essence is able to grow new life. I believe that if the Crystal is restored, it can bring back the Gelflings who’s essence I have rescued, it could save a few of their race and would allow them to populate Thra once again.”

His words caused a glint of hope to spark inside her, maybe her actions could still be reversed. But the realization that she had destroyed one of the bottles, and with that, the essence inside hit her just shortly after. Now she understood the sad look on his face when she had showed him the remains of the flask, it was another lost life that would never be able to return to Thra, and it was her fault.

Again a wave of guilt washed over her and Vazur immediately understood what plagued her mind “Don’t blame yourself, I forgot to store the bottle away safely, it is my negligence that is to blame.”  
He rested a gentle claw on her shoulder to comfort her, and to her own surprise, she immediately felt better. 

“So what do we do now?” Mara asked

“For now there is not much we can do, we have to wait and hope that the two Gelflings will be able to fulfill their destiny and heal the Crystal of truth.” 

Mara sighed and crossed her arms “ But what am I to do now, I cant return to the Castle, not after all this, not after what SkekUng has done to me.”

Vazur smiled gently “I understand, you are of course free to stay in my chambers, I have a spare room you can use. If that is what you want of course.”

Mara thought about his offer for a while, it was a generous one and she had nowhere else to go, there was nothing here for her. She wondered if SkekEkt would miss her, or if she had just played a role all those years to gain her trust.  
But in the end, it did not matter, even SkekEkt could not prevent SkekUng from unleashing his anger on her if she was to return to them. She could use her powers on them, but that would only spread the Darkening further, and that was the last thing that she wanted right now, she had caused enough suffering to the beings of Thra, it was enough.

Eventually, Mara nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we will see how this goes in the next Chapter.  
> If you want to know what Mara looks like, here are links to two drawings I did of her:
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/xfantasticfairies/art/Mara-855027659
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/xfantasticfairies/art/Mara-in-Darkened-Valkyrix-855028263


End file.
